SuperFanDBS Writer

Bears offense continuing to make steady progress
By Larry Mayer There have been ups and downs during three weeks of training camp, but Jay Cutler and the Bears offense are pointed in the right direction.
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. — With three weeks of training camp in the books, Jay Cutler is pleased with the progress the Bears offense has made but knows the unit still has a long way to go.

"We're moving along," Cutler said Tuesday after the Bears conducted their final camp practice open to the public. "I don't think I can pinpoint exactly where we're at, but we're definitely getting better each and every day. There are ups and downs and there are positives and negatives. We're trying to look at the negatives and try to fix those as quickly as possible and continue to find more and more positives each and every day."Jay Cutler has played behind rookie right guard Kyle Long this week in practice.

Cutler has connected regularly with big receiving targets such as Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery and Martellus Bennett in practice. But the veteran quarterback has also had quite a few passes deflected at the line of scrimmage and intercepted.

The negative plays are partly the result of the growing pains that come with learning a new offense, facing an established and talented ball-hawking defense, and not game-planning in practice.

"I have a sense for when [Cutler] gets frustrated and when it's not going the way he wants it to go," said coach Marc Trestman. "But his demeanor's been outstanding. (Guess that should settle the moodiness criticism for now)
"He's experienced a lot of failure in this camp because of what he's seeing every day and all the different things we're throwing at him, but he's had a lot of success too. He's had a very efficient camp for most of it. I know we can always accentuate what we've seen out here [in practice], but what we've seen out here is not the games. It's not the real games.

"We've got to keep that perspective and we've got to look at the big picture right now and we'll see what happens as we move down the road. But he's on top of it. He's doing everything he can to get better, and we're running [random] plays right now. As we move forward we'll be running the plays that best suit the fronts and the coverages that we're going to see."
When that happens, Cutler is convinced that the offense will experience more success.

"We're just trying to rep plays and see what they look like," he said. "We're not really worried about the defense that we're going against or trying to pair up a certain play with the defense. There are some plays out there that we're running that normally you wouldn't want to run against that coverage or that defense or that front. Some of the plays look good, some of the plays not so good. It's just dealing with those and coming back and bouncing back for the next play." (So many of the plays he's running in practice wouldn't be run against the defense he's up against in game)

Cutler likes Trestman's offense, which is designed to limit sacks by focusing on pass protection and getting the ball out of the quarterback's hands quickly. In Trestman's first season as coach of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes in 2008, he reduced the team's sacks from 68 the previous season to 22. (Doesn't sound to me like he's not buying it)
"You get rid of the ball," said Cutler, who has been sacked 148 times in 56 games with the Bears."You're not back there going through reads. It's quick. It's just quarterback-friendly." (Must be nice huh Jay? A few less concussions never hurt anyone.)
Cutler has been playing behind an offensive line that has shuffled players in and out of the lineup in an ongoing effort to find the best five starters. This week a pair of rookies joined the right side of the No. 1 unit with Kyle Long inserted at guard and Jordan Mills at tackle.

The two rookies, who are working closely with offensive coordinator/line coach Aaron Kromer, are expected to start Thursday night's preseason game against the San Diego Chargers at Soldier Field.

"We're very confident in the five guys that we have right now," Cutler said. "Obviously Thursday is going to be an indicator of where we go in that direction. But I think 'Krome' is doing a heck of a job with those guys. He's one of the best offensive coaches that I've been around. He's a great teacher and he's doing the best work he can possibly do with those guys." (For good or for ill we have to trust in Kromer's ability to get a line in front of Cutler and Forte and that will provide protection and open running lanes. The guy was a wizard in NOLA so if Cutler trusts him to get it done I guess we should too.)

SuperFanDBS Writer

I'm not often a huge fan of Larry Mayer's columns but in this case he's not the one doing the talking. There are dozens of writers and talking heads all trying to pretend they have a better handle on what's happening with the offense and how to interpret it correctly than the two guys most responsible for it's success.

You all can do as you will but I'm gonna follow these two for now because nobody knows what's happening in those practices better than these two. If they can see progress and a way to score points that's all I care about.

Of course he's getting passes batted at the line and picks are coming off deflections. It's a WCO, the throws are coming off of short pass drops, and the OL can't block these guys low and take them down so there hands are up and that's gonna create a blockage in the passing lanes. So why read more into it than that? That's what should be happening so they work on plays and ways to move Cutler around to avoid it. It is what it is and that's what camp is for.

As we move forward we'll be running the plays that best suit the fronts and the coverages that we're going to see."

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Huh?! What?! Seeing, recognizing and responding to the opponents fronts? I am going to need a translator. I know the individual words, but have not seen them used in this combination before in reference to a Bears offensive strategy. I don't know what to do with this.

I mean actually resonding during the game in real time... I'm going to have to think about this to see if it's even a real concept. I think Soul made that part up.

SuperFanDBS Writer

The way I read it and understand it is they're just running plays at random regardless of how the defense is aligned. They aren't simulating game conditions as far as the play calling goes just the timing and execution. It actually makes more sense than it seems to. It's just how they're practicing right now not how they're playing and not how they'll practice once the games begin.

Trestman's issue is speed. Speed getting the play called, speed breaking the huddle and getting to the line, speed going through any motion the play calls for, speed getting set, speed getting rid of the ball. His system is all about execution and this is the way he teaches it. He wants it fast and chaotic now so that game speed isn't shocker and I see that as a huge change from the past when the Bears offense always looked like it was playing at the same 3/4 speed they practiced at. Let's face it they played slow and plays developed slowly which led to runs that didn't work and sacks and pressures. Trestman is fixing that issue first before he deals with recognition and play selection.

I understand what he's doing because he sees it as a fundamental flaw in the way they've played in the past. Teachers teach what they want their students to learn and if you're lacking in some of the fundamentals that's where the teaching starts. I have students who understand the notes they're supposed to play on their guitar or bass and when they play alone at their own tempo they're fine. But put a metronome in front of them or put them in a band with others and they're lost because they can't play in time. They have the technical side covered but not the "feel". So what am I supposed to teach them, more notes or how to play with "feel"?

I think that's all this is about and it's why during certain practices the defense seems to have an upper hand. If they can make plays against a defense designed to stop what they're running they have far more options once the play calling takes into consideration what an opposing defense isn't prepared to stop. Trestman is a far more complex offensive coach than we're used to seeing around the Bears. He and his methods are gonna take some getting used to.

DBS Writer

I understand what he's doing because he sees it as a fundamental flaw in the way they've played in the past. Teachers teach what they want their students to learn and if you're lacking in some of the fundamentals that's where the teaching starts. I have students who understand the notes they're supposed to play on their guitar or bass and when they play alone at their own tempo they're fine. But put a metronome in front of them or put them in a band with others and they're lost because they can't play in time. They have the technical side covered but not the "feel". So what am I supposed to teach them, more notes or how to play with "feel"?

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That is an excellent analogy, and I'm not even a musical kinda guy. Well said soul.

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